The present disclosure relates to delivery devices for implanting medical devices such as prosthetic heart valves and, more particularly, to assemblies and methods for forming delivery devices having greater flexibility.
Prosthetic heart valves may be formed from biological materials such as harvested bovine valves or pericardial tissue. Such valves may include a valve assembly including one or more leaflets and a cuff or skirt, and are typically fitted within a stent, which may be inserted into the heart at the annulus of the compromised native valve to replace the native valve. To perform such an insertion procedure using a minimally invasive technique, it is typically necessary to compress the stent to a reduced diameter for loading into the delivery device.
The delivery device having the prosthetic heart valve loaded therein is advanced through the patient's vasculature until it reaches the implantation site. Due to the size of the arteries and the tortuosity of the delivery route, it may be difficult to maneuver the delivery system to the implantation site. It would therefore be beneficial to provide a delivery device having a greater degree of flexibility that can more readily navigate tortuous paths.